Love Sucks
by JimberlyShipper
Summary: This is the fourth story in my Buffy series. It takes place after "New Beginnings", and it's the first chapter. Please enjoy, more chappies coming soon!


Love Sucks   
  
Buffy Summers is no ordinary girl. Neither is her girlfriend, Faith. They're both vampire slayers, and they enjoy being that way. They live in Sunnydale, California, which is only great during the day.   
  
One afternoon, Buffy and Faith are sitting in the living room, waiting for their friends to arrive. Faith was tickling Buffy's sides. She sighed. ''B, what is this all for? All this Christmas stuff?'' She asked.  
  
Buffy looked at her. They'd been together almost a year now. ''For getting your loved ones stuff, and to be grateful you live in the world, and blah blah.'' She told her.   
  
Faith laid back. ''Well, I got you something, but I'm not telling you what it is.''   
  
They were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. Joyce, Buffy's mom, was coming down the hall, so she got it. It was Willow Rosenberg, Oz, Xander Harris, and Jordie Snyder. Willow and Oz are dating, and so are Xander and Jordie. They are, with the exception of Angel, Rupert Giles, and Wesley Wyndom Price, (and Giles' sometime girlfriend, the computer teacher, Ms. Jennifer Calendar) the girls' Watchers, the group of friends, called the Scooby Gang. Joyce smiled and let them in.  
  
Buffy smiled. ''Hey, guys, did you bring refreshments? Faith and I ordered pizzas. They're being kept warm in the oven.''  
  
Xander grinned. ''Great. We brought pop and chips. I'll take them in the kitchen. Buff, can you follow me for a second?''  
  
Buffy followed her friend into the kitchen. ''What's up, Xand?'' She was very curious. Xander had his "I'm in trouble but I don't know how to ask for help" look on his face.   
  
Xander placed the grocery bags on the island. ''I don't know what to get Jordie for Christmas. We've been dating for almost three months now, and I still don't know what I should get her.''   
  
Buffy propped herself up on the counter. ''Well, what does she like? I mean, you guys have been dating for quite awhile now, you should know what she likes.''  
  
Xander said, ''Hey, yeah, I know what she likes! Why didn't I think of that?'' He grinned at her as he handed her a Mountain Dew can. ''Thanks, Buff. Now I just have to decide what to get her from her list of likes.''   
  
The two rejoined their friends in the living room. Faith and Willow were talking about what video to watch. Willow was holding up The Outsiders, and Faith was voting for Wild Things, which had just come out on video the month before.   
  
Buffy said, ''I think we can watch both of them, you guys. This is called a sleepover. We have all night, if need be.'' She plopped herself on the couch between Faith and Jordie.   
  
Jordie grinned at Xander. ''Come here, Xand, and sit next to me.'' She pulled him next to her on the couch. She asked, ''What do you guys think? Let's take a vote. We'll see which one we'll watch first.''  
  
Xander grinned. ''Sounds good to me. Doesn't she have great ideas?'' He asked, as he snuggled in closer to his girlfriend.   
  
Buffy's door rang again, and she jumped up to get it. It was Cordelia Chase, a girl Xander used to date. Buffy smiled at her. ''Hi, Cordy, what brings you here?'' She asked, knowing that Cordelia hadn't been invited, since Xander hadn't been dating her, no one had been talking to her.   
  
Cordelia said, ''I need to talk to Xander, and his mom said that he was here.'' She then asked, ''Can I please come in? It's kinda cold out here.''   
  
Buffy shrugged. ''Sure, why not.'' She stepped back to let Cordy in.   
  
Cordelia walked into Buffy's house, and into the living room. She saw Xander sitting on the couch, happily arguing with his new girlfriend, Willow, Oz, and Faith. She forced herself not to cry. Then she said, ''Xander, if you've got a minute, I need to talk to you.''   
  
Xander looked up. It was Cordelia, a person that he didn't necessarily care about. ''I haven't got one, Cordelia. I'm talking with my friends. You wouldn't understand, because you haven't got any real ones.''  
  
Cordelia made a face. ''Xander, it's only going to take a few minutes of your time. Please, you owe me that much.''   
  
Jordie muttered something under her breath, and Cordelia went flying into the hall. Then she got up and followed the girl. She said, ''Xander doesn't want to talk to you right now, so why don't you go home, where you belong.'' The front door swung open, and Cordy flew off the floor, and then landed on the front porch, the door shutting behind her. Then Jordie murmured some more words, and then said aloud, ''OK, she won't be allowed back in until I say the countercurse.'' She turned back around to see her friends staring at her. ''What?'' She asked.   
  
Xander looked surprised. ''Um, you didn't have to do that, I was handling it.'' He looked shaken that his girlfriend knew so much scary magic.   
  
Jordie just grinned. ''So I handled it. No biggie.'' She then sat back down next to Xander. She looked as if nothing of the weirdness had occurred. Faith gave her best friend a high five.   
  
The group was halfway through The Outsiders, when the doorbell rang. Buffy climbed off Faith's lap and went to the door. It was Giles. ''Buffy. I need to tell you something.''   
  
Buffy smiled. ''I'm having some fun with my friends. You know what fun is. It's that thing where you engage in when you want to be happy.''   
  
Giles just nodded. ''I know. But I need to tell you something. Angel made love to Jammie. She released a demon.''  
  
Buffy put on her confused face. ''Giles, what are you talking about? Angel and Jammie broke up. We saw her running crying from the Bronze awhile ago.''  
  
Her Watcher said, ''Well, before they broke up, they consummated their relationship, and Jammie released the demon inside the vampire. Angel is no longer the good Angel. He is Angelus once more. Jenny's ancestors put a curse on Angelus almost two hundred years ago that states that if he had one moment of happiness, where he wasn't forced to live with what he had done, then he would lose his soul. Jammie released it. Angel has been evil for awhile now. I'm sure that's why he broke up with her.''  
  
Buffy could hardly believe this. ''And Ms. Calendar knew this? And she didn't tell anyone? That is really bad, Giles. This is bad. Oh my God. What are we going to do? We can't just let Angel roam wild like this.''  
  
Giles replied, ''I am going to do some research, and you go back to your party. There's nothing we can do about it now. Just have fun with the others. I'll let Wesley know, too.'' And he left, obviously excited to have the chance to research something.   
  
Buffy rejoined her friends, and girlfriend, shaken by what Giles had told her. But she forced a smile on her face. She didn't want her friends to know this just yet. They were going to have a fun and carefree evening. She was going to make sure that they did.   
  
Spike stared into Angelus's eyes. He was standing next to Drusilla. He could hardly believe that the great Angelus, his sire, was standing before him in friendship again. ''So you've truly come back to our side? I can hardly believe it.'' Spike said sarcastically.  
  
Dru was beside herself with glee. She had been turned by Angelus, too, and also been driven crazy by Angelus. She was quite mad, but Spike loved her anyway. She ran her hands down her body, and said, ''Angelus, my daddy, you've come back to me. It took you so long, but I knew it would happen. Oh, Angelus, we can cause such pain and suffering now.'' Her thick English accent was filled with glee.   
  
Spike just stared warily at Angel. He knew that Angelus was a force to be reckoned with, and he wasn't going to go up against him. But he wanted to know if Angelus really had a plan for hurting the Slayers. ''Angelus, I have a question for you. Are you going to move into action soon? I mean, from what you say, you've been evil for quite awhile now. Are you on our side, or aren't you?''  
  
Dru answered for him. ''Of course my Angel's on our side, Spike. Why wouldn't he be?'' She was so happy, Spike didn't want to protest too much. Dru had been depressed lately.   
  
Angelus smiled evilly. ''I have to think of a plan first, Spike. I'm just not going to go willy nilly and start killing people unless I have a plan. You know so little of me.''   
  
Spike left Dru and Angelus alone and went into the other room of the warehouse where he and Dru were staying. He wasn't sure that they could trust Angelus. He wasn't sure of anything right now. What he was sure of, was that he and Drusilla were not going to get staked in Angelus's crazy nonsense. He refused to let that happen. Now, Angelus, on the other hand, could do whatever he wanted, just as long as he didn't put Spike himself in danger. Or Drusilla. But that wasn't going to happen....................  
  
The next morning, the Scoobies awoke to a beautiful day. Faith awoke first, and then woke everyone else up with her hollering and whooping in the basement. Jordie, who'd been in between Xander and Willow, asked, ''What is she doing down there? Why does she need to make it so noisy?''  
  
Buffy sat up, and moved a lock of blond hair out of her way. ''She's training. She does this every morning. She gets up at six and practices for about two hours, and then goes up to get a shower. But it's ten o'clock, so I'm assuming that she got up at eight. She'll be coming up any time now.''  
  
The rest of the group got up slowly and headed into the kitchen to get some breakfast. Joyce was already in the kitchen, making eggs, toast, and bacon. There was even waffles and French toast. She smiled as the group came into the kitchen. ''Hi, I didn't know what everyone would want, so I just made a variety of things.''  
  
Jordie and Willow both sat in stools by the island. ''Wow, Joyce, you went all out.'' Jordie said, yawning and pulling back her hair into a short ponytail.   
  
Buffy climbed onto the stool next to Willow's, and Xander stood behind Jordie, his hands on her shoulders. Oz stood quietly behind his own girlfriend. Buffy said, ''Mom, you didn't have to make so much food.''   
  
Faith walked into the kitchen, freshly showered. ''Hello, beautiful.'' She said, giving Buffy a kiss and then promptly seated herself on an empty space of the counter.   
  
Joyce said, ''Well, I've got most of this finished, so why don't you all fill yourselves a plate and then go into the dining room?''   
  
All of them did just that, and then headed into the dining room to eat. Except Xander. He stayed to talk to Joyce. ''Joyce, are you still a little weird that Buffy and Faith are dating?'' He asked.   
  
She looked at her daughter's friend. ''A little, yeah, especially since she and Faith are so totally used to it. I'm still dealing with the fact that my daughter has a girlfriend. Why does life deal you these hands, Xander?''  
  
Xander finished filling his plate with eggs, bacon, and French toast. ''Well, I think you're a great mom. Buffy is so totally happy, so you must be doing something right.''   
  
Joyce smiled. ''Well, thanks. I do like Faith, she's a little reckless, but she treats Buffy well, so I guess I'll eventually be OK with it. Go join your friends, Xander.''  
  
Xander walked into the dining room, finding everyone seated next to their boyfriend or girlfriend. Except Jordie, who was patting the seat next to her. He grinned. ''Saved me a seat, huh?''   
  
Jordie nodded. ''I wondered what was taking you so long getting in here. What were you and Joyce talking about?'' She asked.   
  
Xander forked some eggs into his mouth. ''Oh, nothing. Just thanking her for breakfast.'' He smiled at Buffy and Faith, who were feeding each other eggs and giggling when Faith got some in her lap.   
  
Willow sipped OJ. ''So, what's the plan for today? There's nothing demony here, so we can do something fun.''  
  
Jordie grinned. ''I want to go Christmas shopping. It'll be fun as a group. What do you guys say?''  
  
Willow grinned back. ''Sounds great here. What about you guys?'' She looked at her boyfriend, and her best friends and their girlfriends.  
  
Faith shoveled some eggs into her mouth. ''Well, I can't complain. I can spy on B and see what she's getting for me for Christmas.'' She giggled.   
  
Buffy finished her OJ. ''Yeah, Faith, that's gonna happen.'' She went into the kitchen to get some more OJ. Her mother was filling a bowl with more eggs. ''Geez, Mom, do the overcook thing.'' Buffy said, filling her glass.  
  
Joyce handed Buffy the bowl to take back into the dining room. ''Well, Xander and your girlfriend are big eaters.'' She said, and Buffy noticed that she had said "girlfriend" like it was no biggie. Buffy found this worrisome, because she had been thinking the same thing for months now. This thing with Faith, it felt permanent. Especially since they were both Slayers, they understood about death, and that it could seperate them any day.  
  
Buffy didn't say anything as she headed back into the dining room. She placed the huge bowl on the table, and almost everyone grabbed some more. She kissed Faith. ''You know I'd never leave you, right?'' She asked.  
  
Faith looked back at her. ''Of course, B, I know you wouldn't. Are you goin' all wiggins? Do we need to have a talk?'' She looked like, no worries, but she seemed like she would go all worries if Buffy needed her to.  
  
Buffy shook her head. ''Nope, I'm fine. Let's just eat breakfast and get ready to go shopping.''  
  
An hour later, the girls were changing in Buffy's room. Faith was dressing in a pair of tight jeans and a red spaghetti strap tee. Buffy slipped on a jeans skirt (practically the only jeans skirt in her closet. Her other skirts were more flowy) and an olive green tank top. Willow dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and a comfortable blue sweater. Oz had gotten her to wear jeans more. She liked it. Jordie was the one walking a little on the wild side that day. She wore a tight leather miniskirt, a pair of tall black boots, and a translucent blue spaghetti strap shirt. She wore a blue bra underneath, and pulled her short hair up into a French twist.  
  
Faith looked at her friend. ''Girl, you have the cutest clothes, but we're just going Christmas shopping. You didn't have to get all sexy.''  
  
Jordie pulled Willow's hair back into a French braid for her. ''Yeah, I did. I want Xander to be thinking about me all day so he gets me a superb present. I think this outfit is totally perfect.''   
  
Buffy ran a brush through her hair, and then started to tackle Faith's dark mess. ''Well, if he's seen you after you just woke up, I think you'll be OK.''  
  
Jordie looked at her friend. ''Great, thanks, Buff. That's a real confidence booster.'' She smiled at her, to let her know she was just joking. She then linked arms with her best friend and headed downstairs.   
  
Buffy and Willow looked at each other. ''Did you think she looked sexy?'' Buffy asked her friend. (Willow was also into girls, but actually hadn't had a date with one yet, since she had met Oz.)   
  
Her friend nodded. ''Yeah, I did. She's really hott, isn't she?'' The two girls stared at each other. Willow then asked, ''Are we cheating to think that?''  
  
Buffy quickly shook her head. ''Nope. If Faith wasn't her best friend, she'd think Jordie looked hott, too. She might, anyway. We're fine.''  
  
The two girls hurried downstairs, to find Xander and Oz dressed in jeans. Xander had on a black long sleeved tee and Oz wore one of his trademark Hawaiian print shirts with a tee underneath. Xander was drooling over his girlfriend, who was giggling with Faith.   
  
Oz said, ''Are we ready to go, ladies?'' He seemed quite relaxed, and took Willow's arm in his.   
  
Buffy took Faith into the dining room, which was off to the right of the front door, which was at the bottom of the stairs. ''I have to talk to you.'' She said.   
  
Faith folded her arms. ''I knew it. What's going on? What's with the wiggins?'' She asked. Then she panicked. ''You're not breaking up with me, are you?''  
  
Her girlfriend quickly shook her head. ''No! Of course not. It's something Giles told me last night when he stopped by. He said that Angel is bad. He's back to his old self. Jammie slept with him and turned him into the big bad.''  
  
Faith looked at the others, excitedly laughing and talking. ''Are you going to tell the others yet?''  
  
Buffy shook her head. ''No, I had to tell you because not only are you my girlfriend, you're the Slayer. So I felt obligated.''   
  
Faith kissed her lightly. ''Well, thanks for telling me.''   
  
It didn't take them long to get to the mall. Oz had brought his van the night before. They all piled out of it when they got there. Faith took Buffy's hand. ''I've got an idea. Why don't we split up with our significant others for about an hour, then meet and split up again.''  
  
Willow smiled. ''Makes sense to me.'' This agreed, they all split up and went to different parts of the mall.   
  
Faith and Buffy strolled the mall, holding hands. Faith looked at Buffy, who didn't seem to be happy about doing the mall. She poked B's side, and said, ''Why aren't you happy? We're shopping. That's one of your favorite activities.''  
  
Her girlfriend sighed. ''I just don't want to even think of being able to kick Angel's butt. I mean, he was even worse than Spike. Spike's pretty bad, girl.''  
  
Faith gasped. ''Oh my God, do you remember when we stopped the Judge's releasing? Well, I betcha Angel was back to his old ways then, we just didn't know it yet!''   
  
Buffy nodded. ''You're right, I mean, Jammie had just broken up with him. He had to be. Oh, that's creepy to think about. I mean, they've been broken up for awhile now. I mean, like, months. Angel has been Angelus for awhile without our knowing. Creepy.'' She made a face, then said, ''What are we going to do? We have to have a game plan here.''  
  
Faith shrugged. ''I don't know, but you're right. We have to do something. Shop! Don't worry about Angel right now, he can't do anything in the daylight.'' She stopped in front of the bookstore. ''Didn't you want to get Will a book or something?''  
  
Her girlfriend nodded. ''Yeah, but I already got it. I even got Oz a book about guitars, or something. So unless you want to go in, we can move on.''   
  
Meanwhile, Jordie and Xander were walking hand in hand through the mall, talking. Jordie said, ''Did you get Will's present yet? Because there's this really great spell book I want to get her at The Magic Shop next door to the mall, and I don't want anyone else getting it for her.''  
  
Xander looked at his girlfriend. ''I have to ask you a question, and I want a serious answer. Are you evil? I mean, you can do such powerful stuff.''  
  
Jordie stopped walking to face him. ''Xander, I use my power for good. I am not evil. I do like to do things like floating my breakfast to me, and stuff, so I don't have to get up, but I'm not evil. I just got into doing Wicca and kept at it. Are you upset about that thing I did to Cordy yesterday?''  
  
Xander shook his head. ''I just didn't know you could ban people from houses and throw them out of doors.''   
  
She smiled slyly. ''Well, I won't do that anymore, if it upsets you. It's not like Cordy was hurt or anything. She's fine, Xand.''  
  
While the Scooby Gang shopped the old mall, Spike and Drusilla were sitting in the gardens. Dru was singing softly, crazily, and Spike was sitting in his wheelchair. He'd been injured in a fire, and broken both of his legs. He was almost well, and it made him glad. Angel kept calling him "Roller Boy", and it was grating on Spike's nerves.   
  
Speaking of the devil, he entered the room, carrying a shop girl. ''I have dinner, folks. I already ate her friend, so go ahead and knock yourselves out.'' Angelus smiled an evil little smile.  
  
Drusilla smiled. ''Angelus, you're so sweet! Are you 'ungry, pet? You 'aven't eaten all day.'' She said to Spike.   
  
Spike shook his head. ''I'm fine, luv. Don't worry about me.''   
  
Buffy and Faith had slipped into Victoria's Secret, to escape the crowds. Buffy was looking for Faith's present. She told Faith to pick it out, so they could use it as soon as possible. Faith walked around all the gorgeous lingerie, Buffy's hand in her own. She saw lots of stuff that she'd like, but she wanted to find the most perfect thing that would really turn Buffy on.   
  
Her girlfriend smiled as Faith kept her eyes out. Buffy knew she was trying to find something really sexy. They were planning a really romantic evening, to take place later that night, and that's when Buffy was planning to let Faith use her present.   
  
Faith spotted a dark red number that was really really short and low-cut. It was all red and black lace. She knew it was the one. She pulled it off the rack. ''This is it, B.'' She said, grinning.   
  
Buffy smiled. Her girlfriend had good taste. ''Yummy.'' She said, and gave her a kiss. ''Let's get it, and then we'll meet the others.''   
  
After purchasing the nightie, they left the store, giggling at the look on the salesgirl's face. Buffy said, ''She looked like she wanted to join right in!''   
  
Faith said, ''I know, but only me and you, babe. We don't need anybody else for our fun in the sun.'' That made the two girls laugh harder than ever.   
  
They met up with their friends an hour later. Jordie said, ''I'm shopping with Faith, no doubt about it. I want to be able to get you a good present, B.'' She said, grinning.   
  
''Then I'm shopping with Buffy.'' Willow said, giving her best friend a smile.   
  
Xander quipped, ''Well, Oz, by using my powers of deduction, I guess you're with me.'' Oz didn't say anything, just smiled.   
  
Jordie linked arms with Faith, and they headed down one side of the mall, singing a Dingoes Ate My Baby song at the top of their lungs.   
  
Willow and Buffy just walked off down the other side, chatting about the gifts they were getting Faith and Oz. Buffy was telling her of Faith's negligee when they walked away.   
  
Oz and Xander just walked away silently. Jordie and Faith had added a skip to their song, and were attracting looks from the other shoppers. Faith laughed. ''We're livin' large, girlfriend.'' She said, grinning.   
  
Jordie laughed, too, as they stopped to catch their breath. ''You know what? I don't think I've ever had more fun.'' She ran a hand through her hair.   
  
Her best friend straightened her own hair. She was trying to ignore the sudden feelings she was feeling for her friend. She loved Buffy; what was her problem? She just said, ''Yeah, it was fun. Let's get down to business, though. What'd you want to get B for Christmas?''   
  
Jordie said, ''Um, what should I get her? You're her girlfriend, what does she need? I mean, I haven't known her that long.''  
  
Faith said, ''Well, she likes movies. Not the kind I like, but she likes them. I don't think she has Dirty Dancing, and it's her favorite movie.''   
  
Jordie said, ''OK, I'll get it for her. What are you getting her, anyway? I know from Willow that you've already gotten her her present.''  
  
As they started walking down the mall again, Faith grinned. ''I got her the best present. I'm not going to tell you what it is, mind you. I didn't even tell Will what it was.''  
  
Jordie said, ''Aw, come on, I'm not going to tell anybody. I just want to know what you got her. It's driving me crazy.''  
  
A couple of hours later, the group had finished their shopping and everyone went on home. Faith and Buffy went on patrol.   
  
They ran into Spike and Drusilla. ''Hey, Slayers. Guess you've heard the true Angelus is back.'' Spike said, smiling at them, in full vamp face.   
  
Buffy whipped out a stake that she'd slipped up her sleeve. ''Yeah, well, we're going to stop him just like we're going to stop you.''   
  
Faith yanked out her own stake. ''If you don't shut up, we are so going to open up a can on you.'' She shrugged. ''We're going to open up one anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.''   
  
Dru was silent, until she said, ''Angelus is going to be the one causing trouble. Besides, we're going to have a party. I already invited everyone.'' She was grinning happily.   
  
Buffy looked at Faith, then back to Drusilla. ''Well, we seemed to have missed our invitations. Did you send them to the house?'' She asked, flipping her hair back over her shoulder.   
  
Faith folded her arms. ''Yeah, Dru, where's ours? We'll just have to crash the party, then. How do you like your party crashers? Do you want us to bring extra beer?''   
  
Spike sauntered closer, and stood next to Dru. ''Dru, these girls are being wisecrackers. I think we need to do something about that.''   
  
Faith slipped into battle stance. ''Bring it on, Dead Boy.'' She said, borrowing Xander's name for Angel.   
  
The vamps began to fight the Slayers, Spike taking on Buffy and Dru taking on Faith. The two girls flipped and kicked, both clutching stakes in their hands.   
  
After a few minutes of sparring, Spike and Dru left, running off towards the mausoleum that they called home. Buffy and Faith decided to head home, hand in hand.   
  
The next morning, it was research mode. Buffy and Faith went to the library, where they found Giles, Jordie, Xander, Oz, and Willow. Buffy grinned. ''Hi guys. Research party?''  
  
Willow smiled back at them. ''Hi guys. Sit, grab a doughnut. And a book.''   
  
Faith put down her knapsack containing Slayer stuff and said, ''Geez, Will. Not even a how are you, just grab a book! Let's get to work.''  
  
Willow said, ''Sorry, how are you? I just meant, well.....'' She stopped and Oz smiled.   
  
Buffy said, ''It's OK, Will. We're fine. Let's get with the researchin'.'' She slid into a chair and let Faith crawl into her lap.   
  
Faith asked, ''So what have we been able to find out so far, kiddies?'' She had pulled one of the Watcher diaries towards her.   
  
Willow said, ''Well, we found out that Angel has sired fifty million vamps, and while most have been killed, there's two here in Sunnydale. Spike and Drusilla. And Spike is very violent. He used to jam railroad spikes into people's heads back in the 18 hundreds. That's how he got his nickname.''  
  
Faith said, ''Eww. That's gross. Well, what else do we know? Since Angel's been Soul Boy, has he gone bad like this before?''  
  
Xander shook his head. ''No, I haven't been able to find anything out. There's no record of it if he did. But Angelus is really evil. He has killed anybody, without even thinking twice. He tortured Drusilla in every sense of the word before he turned her. He's part of the reason that she's so crazy.''   
  
Buffy was looking through one of the Watcher diaries, too. ''Well, we need to find out if he's killed any Slayers, and if maybe there's some way we can maybe curse him again. Angel's our friend. I don't want to kill him unless I have to.''   
  
Giles came out of the office. ''Buffy, you have to remember that Angel isn't your friend any longer. He is Angelus. He is evil, and he doesn't care about your soul anymore. It's quite possible that as the one he fancied, you could become his target, quite like Drusilla was.''   
  
Faith and Buffy both exclaimed at this. Faith said, ''I don't think so. He is going to leave my girl alone. No one makes my girl that crazy.''   
  
Xander said, ''We have to come up with a plan. I don't want to keep letting him do all this evil stuff.''   
  
They worked steadily on finding information on Angelus, forgetting the time, as usual. Christmas vacation had officially started, and they were the only ones in the school. Buffy finally tossed the heavy book she was reading back onto the table. ''OK, I can't study anymore. I have to get into the action.'' She complained.   
  
Faith concurred. ''I totally am with you, B. Let's get a move on and kick the crap out of some pathetic vamp.'' She stood up from her chair.   
  
Willow stopped them for a second. She held a Watcher diary in her hands. ''Listen to this, guys.'' She paused and read from the book.   
  
April the 16, year 1888.  
  
It seems to be that Angelus has sired another vampire. I have not yet been able to determine who he was in his former life, however, he seems to be very powerful, however new his powers are. He has already been wreaking havoc on London's streets. I have not as yet found any way for Maria to fight him, I have been bombarded with letters from the Council demanding to know why Maria has not dusted Angelus. The only thing I have managed to find is the cure that will turn him docile. It will return his soul to him, and as long as he never has another truly happy moment, where he does not suffer for what he has done, then he will keep it. I will update again when I know more.  
  
Sincerly,  
  
James Alexander Martin  
  
April 27, year 1888  
  
My name is Maria O'Connell, and I know that I am not a Watcher, I am a Slayer, but I wanted to record these events in Mart's stead. I know that Mart has recorded in this diary that he found the curse that would set Angel's soul back to him. It has been lost. Mart's apartment here in London was ransacked, and everything he'd managed to find in accordance to Angelus was lost. He is also missing, and I am not holding out hope that he is alive. The Watcher's Council is sending me a new Watcher to help me, hopefully temporarily, but if Mart's not found, then he/she will be with me permanently. If Mart is indeed gone for good, then the new Watcher will continue right here.  
  
Maria Denise O'Connell.''  
  
Willow stopped. ''There's more, because the new Watcher had to continue. It's my guess that James was killed. It doesn't say.'' She looked at her friends. ''Should I read more?''  
  
Faith nodded. ''Let's find out what happened. Maybe it mentions the curse.''   
  
Willow picked up where she left off:  
  
July 24, year 1888  
  
My name is William Daniel Stevenson. I prefer to be called Will, but Maria insists on calling me "Steve". She is very headstrong, but this seems to be a trait of Slayers and potential Slayers. I have deduced this from reading the old Watcher diaries. In continuing, I would like to begin. I have not written before this because I did not want to write until we were sure that James, or "Mart", as Maria refers, was truly gone. He has passed on, but not before Angelus sired him. He seemed to think it would be damaging to Maria to have to stake him. She nonetheless did it, and seems to have begun the recovery from her grief. I have taken the liberty of trying to find out everything that was taken from James' apartment, and it is a slow process. Maria has been patrolling, of course, and has fought Angelus on three seperate occasions. The rest of the time, she has fought random vampires and Spike, or William the Bloody, the vampire that Angelus sired back in April. He seems to have gotten his nickname from jamming railroad spikes into people's heads. He is quite violent and Maria is having quite a time. However, I must continue this discourse at anther time. Maria needs some training.   
  
Signed,   
  
William Daniel Stevenson  
  
Xander said, ''I wonder if this Maria girl is one of the Slayers that Spike killed. He's already killed two in his long lifetime, and I'm sure nearly succeded with some of the others.''  
  
Buffy said, ''Let's just worry about killing him. I'm not afraid of him, and neither is Faith. We'll kill him, if it's the last thing we do.'' 


End file.
